The Annointed Child and Captain's Daughter: Story of Eliz
by RieWiggles
Summary: After the fall of HADES, an encounter caused a life change for Erend and Aloy. Nineteen years later, Eliz makes her way to compete in The Lodge. After an attack, Erend and Aloy constantly jump from helping the Carja to attempting to help Eliz, who spirals down a deadly path of addiction.
1. Putting One in the Oven

**Author's Note: I haven't typed up a fanfiction in years. I've been too busy with college, considering I'm steps away from my Bachelor's and soon on to my Master's (GRE in June, Baby). I'm a little rough on the writing, so apologies if it's rather, er, too fast-paced.**

 **I started on H:ZD about over a week ago and I couldn't get Ereloy out of my head. It's hit just like my QuinnCready ship, which is my Fallout ship of my Vault Dweller Karlie Quinn and MacCready. That's lurking all over my Tumblr. For now I'm taking a small break on those two and working on this new couple that I'm in love with.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

After defeating Hades, a large celebration was all but surprise. While the broken walls were left open, it didn't stop the spirit of the survivors. Taverns were full of drunk men and the streets were filled with music, dancing, and talk.

While Aloy felt relief and the distress lift from her shoulders, she still had one more mission: to find Elizabet's body. The Seeker slowly drank her brew. While not buzzed, which her intention was just a sip to ease her mind, she didn't feel as if the booze were enough to keep her world spinning. She left the tavern, only to have her brutish comrade following behind. "Is our hero done for the night?"

Aloy enjoyed Erend's company, moreso at that exact moment. The duo aimlessly walked on through the loud commotion. "I'm just tired," she responded, turning into an alley. "Look, Erend, I need to go after tonight." She wanted to get that thought out of the way.

"Will you come back?"  
"I promise." Aloy's expression was enough to gain Erend's trust.  
"I'll take your word for it. You'll never be without me."

Aloy chuckled. She could smell the Oseram brew from the crack of his lips, something that wasn't uncommon. "So, uh, where are you going then?" the captain asked.

"It's very personal, and no one else is to come with."  
"What? Need some space from me?"  
Another Erend flirtatious joke.

Aloy closed the door behind them. She was still in her garb from hours before, during the battle. Erend had a bottle in his hand, and proceeded to place it on the nearest table. "So, if you put the bottle down, that means that you're staying the night, right?" Aloy chuckled again, jokingly hinting that she enjoyed his presence. She turned to the man and asked about his sobriety. Although he was slightly inebrated, he was still in a state of consciousness to acknowledge the surrounding world. He responded as so, placing a hand on her shoulder to confirm. She nodded and turned away. "Okay, so, then you won't mind if I go wash all this corruption off my shoulders then." At that moment, Erend was about to ask about following, but knew it wasn't the time. He belched, before stating, "Yeah, yeah. You go wash all that grime off you. You deserve it." Due to the normal Meridian weather, the room was rather warm, especially noting that it was filled with light. Warm colors did not help, as they bounced the heat. Aloy made her way to the nearest place to bathe, and wash the blood, sweat, and grime.

After cleaning up and dressing into her most comfortable garb, Aloy made her way up the stairs, only to see Erend asleep on the big bed before her. His armor was placed on the opposite side of the room, as he donned nothing but an undershirt and the baggy pants she always saw him in. She sighed, gave a small laugh, and approached him. "So, you did get comfortable. Looks like you're staying the night," she joked, as she started to play bongos with his abdomen."

"Hey, stop! A little less dignifying, don't you think?"

Aloy gave a small chuckle. It was the first time she's seen his beer-gut. She moved her way to the other side. Sheepishly, Erend said, "You know, after what happened today, our kids are gonna have quite a story."

"Our kids?" Aloy stopped right in her tracks.

"I-I mean everyone's kids!" he responded, waking up slightly after processing what he had just stated.

Aloy gave a small chuckle as her cheeks began to flush a rosy color. She moved her way to the other side of the bed. The Nora made a spot on the bed, absorbing the fabric as her back suddenly gave way into the mattress. It was so comfortable. She turned the focus on to listen to Elizabet's archives, hoping she would drift to sleep with new information. As she began to listen to what Elizabet recorded, she suddenly felt a pair of bear arms wrap around her body, and smelled that Oseram brew. "You don't mind me doing this, don't you?" Erend sheepishly said, as he began to drift off.

"It wasn't like you weren't gonna do it anyways," Aloy responded, just about drifting off herself.

* * *

As Elizabet's voice filled the Nora's brain as she regenerated, Aloy was suddenly woken up by light scratching on her side. It took a few seconds to realize that Erend was still wrapped around her. She turned her face to the man before her. "You're still awake, aren't you?"

"Just admiring the view," the Captain responded.

Aloy's lips curved to a smile, and she started to laugh. She turned the focus off, and wrapped her right arm around Erend's left forearm. She turned her head closer to his, hoping to fall back asleep. However, that little scratch was just enough to wake her up, only for her to realize that only twenty minutes have passed.

"Tell me something," Erend suddenly said to break some ice. "What was that Helis guy doing to you sometime ago when he locked you up. Wasn't he gonna sacrifice you to those machines? At least, that's what I heard."

Aloy's mind suddenly shot straight to that moment when she woke up to the man who killed her adoptive father. She remembered one detail about that conversation, and it was more of the physical feeling of uneasiness, and in terms of that, it wasn't the fear of dying, or the anger.

"I don't remember," she lied. Erend knew better.

"You seem really uneasy talking about it. I won't bother you about it anymore."

Aloy couldn't put her finger on what she felt other than the anger and fear. She shook her head. "I guess you could say I felt gross. It wasn't like that feeling where you just hate someone so much to where he or she grosses you out. It was a different kind of gross," Aloy stated. Erend's mind went elsewhere, however, that elsewhere confirmed the truth of what happened.

"Do you remember anything else?"

"I was mostly knocked out." The sentence was the honest truth. "Why are you asking me about it?"

"I heard about that grudge you had against him, and I also heard tonight that you churned his guts like butter."

"It was personal. He's caused enough hell for a lot of people."

A grunt emitted from Erend's lips. Aloy's eyes scanned his face, considering it was so close to hers. She then tried to adjust to the situation, and feel every inch of her body. Erend was still lightly scratching her side, which actually felt pretty good. She could feel his breathing trace down the side of her cheek down to the bottom of her neck. Her hand was wrapped under his body. She quickly adjusted, Erend following, so she would wrap it under his body. "Oh, so now you're finally getting into it," Erend responded to the moment, as her arm wrapped around his neck to the back of his head. She didn't think much of it, as she was still in the process of adjustment. She closed her eyes to focus more on his nose, which at that point was nudged against her cheek.

Aloy didn't pay much attention to what she was about to do next. She just followed through her instinct. She wrapped her right arm around Erend's neck, as his left arm wrapped around her body. She dug her face into the pillow, inches close to his. She finally scanned every detail of what she was able to see of his face. His expression changed to a curved half-smile. She loved to see him smile.

When his lips locked onto hers, she didn't think about what she was about to do next. The moment became warm, almost too warm to bear. She tasted the booze in his mouth as she allowed to open, and let him slip his tongue inside. She didn't respond to his tongue-battle, although she let out a sigh. His tongue was rather big, big enough to cover her whole mouth. She loved that.

She was too surprised to respond. Erend finished the kiss, and scratched the back of his head. "Uh, sorry," he said. "Got a bit caught up." Aloy was still too surprised to really grasped the moment. Her only response was to hold him in closer. Her heart was beating, almost to where she thought it would burst out of her chest. She didn't give second thought when she leaned in for another. As heavy breathing and grunts began to flourish the room like music, Aloy broke around the fifth to sixth kiss and regained her composure. "I promise I'll come back when I'm done," she said softly, as she began to tug at her braids.

"I know you will."

Erend began to tower over Aloy, kissing her again. He reached down and began to slip a hand to feel her hip bone. She almost stopped to regain herself, but it felt right to her for him to continue on. His fingers scanned every bit of skin around the area of her hip bone, to her lower abdomen, and then down to her outer thighs. Aloy tried to regain her composure, and rolled on top of Erend. "What the hell are we doing?" Aloy asked, with a light chuckle. Erend lifted himself up to where his back was against the headboard. "What's wrong?" he gave her a puzzled look. She loved when his eyebrows moved.

"No, nothing. It's just that I've never had something like this before."

Erend's heart skipped a beat. Aloy preferred her position on top; she didn't feel like her ribs were being crushed. Erend wrapped his fingers around the nape of her neck, and aimed for another kiss. His free hand still explored whatever inch he was able to touch on Aloy's body. She wasn't thinking when she removed her tunic, displaying a bare chest. Erend wasn't surprised to see the tone, considering she was of athletic build. He was more surprised over how beautiful she looked. He always imagined her bare in front of him, but at that moment, when it was real, his heart felt like it would stop any second.

Aloy struggled to slip her pants off, as she used every bit of her upper body strength to slip them off onto the bed. It didn't matter to her where they were. Meanwhile, Erend slipped his pants slightly. Aloy didn't pay attention to the view below her; her instinct was to insert whatever inch was available. As his shaft slowly entered through the lips, Aloy's body tensed. She arched her back to where her face buried into Erend's shoulder. A moan emitted from her lips. Erend tensed up himself when he felt her all around his member, even moreso when he felt the vibration of her moan slither through his shoulder, then down his spine. Aloy soon began to thrust. The air suddenly became heavy. Both bodies began to emit sweat. With shoulders pressed against each other, Aloy continued to thrust. Her upper teeth pressed over her bottom lips, almost curled to rip and tear. Aloy couldn't keep her eyes open throughout the whole euphoria. Erend, however, kept his eyes right onto her face, which made the experience much more intense.

Erend began to slowly curve his way to dominate over Aloy. Once he was able to do so, he slowly removed himself. Aloy, obviously inexperienced, was confused over what he was to do next. He began to plant his lips onto her mandible, and moved down to her middle bare. He continued downward to her breasts. He took his time, making sure his lips touched every inch of each breast. Aloy's body ached for more. Erend continued downward, kissing her abdomen, and moving down to her pelvic bone. He pressed both his hands firmly on each side. He rubbed with his thumb, and slowly gave a kiss to her southern lips. Her body jerked once she felt a rather large tongue slip among the most sensitive area on her body. A small shriek emitted from Aloy's lips. She then felt a gust of warm air hit, further realizing that Erend was chuckling over the small moan. She could tell he was feeling rather proud of himself. He continued onwards, as his tongue vigorously slithered around and onto her clit. On top of the amount of tongue skill Erend possessed and the size of his tongue, it didn't take long for the orgasm to take place. It was actually Aloy's first, and possibly the longest few seconds of her life. Heavily panting, the Nora didn't notice the Oseram move his way on top of her, as he planted a kiss to her lips again. At that moment, she wanted him even closer to her.

This time, he was on top. Erend inserted himself again, slowly thrusting. Aloy followed each thrust with her own. She didn't pay attention to her hips; she mostly paid attention to Erend's face which was buried into her shoulder. Again, each gust of breath that left his lips caused a shiver in Aloy's spine. His deep moans caused Aloy to follow suit, which intensified the moment. As each thrust got harder and faster, in a moment's notice, Aloy felt something jerk inside her. She couldn't quite put a finger on what it exactly was, but she was more focused on the removal of Erend's member, and his bear hugs wrapping around her again. She returned the embrace. After a minute of awkward silence, Erend cleared his throat. "So, um," he started, rather nervous. "You know about, uh, how I-"

"I've known since The Blessing," Aloy finished his sentence.

* * *

"You often tell stories of your mother. But you are childless."

"I never had time. I guess it was for the best."

"If you had had a child, Elizabet, what would you wish for him or her?"

 _"I guess… I would have wanted her to be… curious. And willful- unstoppable, even… but with enough compassion to… heal the world."_

Aloy held the globe tight in her hand through the ride back to her old home- to Rost's grave. Upon coming across a campfire, as sunset was receding to nightfall, Aloy unmounted from her Strider. She turned her focus on to inspect more of the globe. Upon looking down, she noticed a small, magenta light flicker from inside her abdomen. Her new destination wasn't Rost's grave.

Upon relentless riding, Aloy reached the gates of Meridian. She hurriedly ran as fast as she could past the guards, to Avad. "Where's Erend?" She demanded, panting, out of breath. "I need to talk to him!"

"He's making his way to The Claim. He'll be leaving around tomorrow. He should be back anytime since today he just rested Ersa."

Aloy rested her arms on her waist and proceeded to scuffle her feet to the ledge, to look on into the city. "I don't care how long he'll be. I need to tell him something," she said. Avad questioned her motives, but remained silent.

After around a half hour or so, Erend quietly, but calmly approached the throne. "Aloy!" he shouted excitedly. "You promised you'd come back! Not that I, uh, doubted that you would," as he continued his sentence, she didn't give second thought before running up and embracing the Oseram Captain. "Erend, I need to tell you something," she said, with a worried tone. "It's personal."

The duo walked to the platform that they met right after catching Dervahl. Erend gave Aloy a rather concerned look. "You look like you've just seen a ghost," he said calmly, but worrying. Aloy looked down. "Look, I'll admit, I've never dealt with anything like this, obviously, so I'm not good at explaining it." She took the focus off her ear and handed it to Erend. "Just, turn it on. You'll see."

Erend placed it on his pierced ear, as Aloy turned it on for him. He saw some tech he's obviously never seen before, and was amazed. He looked at her face, as the focus identified her. "Look down," she implored. Upon slowly looking at her abdomen, a small gasp emitted from his lips. "This is mine?"

"Who else would have done this?"

Erend didn't know what to think, but an adrenaline rush hit, as well as excitement. "I can't believe it," he whispered. "What do you think?" Aloy removed the focus from Erend's ear and re-accessorized it. "I- I don't know. I never thought about something like this."

Erend placed his hand on her shoulder, then bent down to his knees. He wrapped his arms around her, allowing his ear to rest onto her womb. "You know what? Don't be afraid," he said calmly. In the back of Aloy's mind, she thought to herself that it was necessary, and a viable way for her to stay out of sight from the populace. In the front of her mind, she was scared.

"Come with me to the Claim. It'll be a short trip. We can talk more about what to do. Until then, just, do me a favor and rest up. You've been on your feet a little too much, and now after knowing this, you don't want trouble for more than one of you."

Aloy got what Erend was getting to her, but one thing kept hitting her head like a rock.

 _How can I raise a child?_

* * *

 **This was going to be a prompt at first, but I figured it'd be more interesting to make it a story.**


	2. Growing Pains

**Author's Note: I haven't typed up a fanfiction in years. I've been too busy with college, considering I'm steps away from my Bachelor's and soon on to my Master's (GRE in June, Baby). I'm a little rough on the writing, so apologies if it's rather, er, too fast-paced.**

 **Eliz is actually pronounced like "Ei-leez," like similarly to Eileen. Also, if she had a voice actress, it would be Ashley Johnson (Ellie from The Last of Us).**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

"So, listen to me," Erend began as the two made their way to the Claim. Aloy wasn't feeling too well. The ride was in a cart, considering the two weren't the only ones making their way out. "In The Claim, any woman who isn't, well, 'claimed,' is a target. Because you're pregnant, with my kid, you're under full protection. No one messes with The Vanguard Captain's lover." That word hit Aloy like a rock. Her heart skipped a beat after hearing it. She had the feelings, but never considered her and Erend to be _lovers._

The winter weather was relieving to be in. Wish business to be tended to, Erend left the pregnant Nora on her own. As she curiously made her way around town, talking to the folk about lending a hand, she never felt so much protection in all her life. The Vanguard watched her like a hawk. Of course, the rumor of Aloy's pregnancy was definitely a topic that she couldn't avoid. She heard everything from congratulations to even gifts.

Erend came out to meet Aloy near the leader's headquarters. "So, um, I made a decision," he said, shyly. Aloy didn't question the whole situation. She had no idea what was going on, let alone she wasn't interested in knowing, as her groggy feeling was more important. The groggy feeling was pushed by the Vanguard Captain's words, "I'm going to go wherever you want to go."

"That's not necessary," Aloy replied without any thought. Second thoughts weren't a thing that occurred to her during her time with Erend. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and traced down to the womb. He gave a half-smile as he rubbed her abdomen. It actually felt great to get a belly rub. "You know, I'm not the oaf everyone thinks I am. I heard you mutter Rost's name in your sleep that night. I know that you didn't see him yet, and I'm aware that it's your next trip." Erend and Aloy made their way to a small hut located at the South East of the town. Erend unlocked the door and urged the Nora to make her way through. He made a fire in the middle of the room and removed his armor. He stared at her as she slowly made a spot on his bed. "Was this yours and Ersa's place?" She asked. He confirmed with a nod. The Oseram scratched the back of his head as he made a spot next to Aloy. "I know you're scared," he said softly. She didn't answer. She grossed her arms and sighed. Still, no answer.

"It's okay to be scared. This is actually the first time that I've genuinely seen you feel that way."

Aloy scoffed.

"Look, uh, just think of it as continuing your life, but with something to raise along with yourself. Like, you know, another human being that needs help learning the way around. You're just a teacher, but you have to care for it too."

"You seem pretty excited. Why?"

Erend cleared his throat a little bit.

"You know how I feel, Aloy. About you. This is a life changer for me, and I know it is for you, too, but I mean, this is something I can share with my favorite person in the world."

His words gave some comfort to Aloy. She curved a half-smile and arched her back to where she was lying on the bed. He followed her, and wrapped his arms around her. She returned the embrace. "Is this going to take away my fun adventures?" Aloy joked.

"I think you know the answer to that."

* * *

 **6 Years Later**

* * *

"Are you giving shards to that peasant? Are you nuts?" A little girl looked back at the small figure that stood before her, before she was instantly pushed to the ground. "You're going to end up just like him! Berry picker!" The chant of "berry picker" rang in Eliz's head, as she got up from the ground and began to shed tears. The boy before her was a Carja high-class spawn. She at least knew that. She just never knew that she would be a target to the other children's hatred. Eliz's emotions spiraled, until the anger began to rush into her blood. The Oseram emerged from the young girl, as she trampled over the boy, and began to punch with all the strength she had. All she heard were the screams of herself and the other children as they ran away. She didn't even hear the boy's cries.

"Eliz!" Aloy yelled as she ran up and pulled the young girl away. Eliz was still swinging her arms as Aloy held her from under her arms. The Nora inched towards a far area to lecture her daughter. When she put Eliz down, the Nora cupped Eliz's face in her hands. "Tell me what happened!" It took a moment for the young girl to catch her breath.

"He kept calling me a berry picker because I gave shards to one of the farmers! He was a nice man, why do they have to treat him bad?"

Aloy sighed before making sure the girl's icy blue eyes met her hazel irises. "There's nothing wrong with what you did," Aloy started, "Except the fighting."

"Daddy tells me that if someone is mean to me I should beat them up!"

 **Oh, really?**

"Not in a situation like this, Eliz. You only beat people up if you feel like your life is in danger."

"But what about the farmer? Why do they say he's a bad person."

"He isn't. It's just that those people don't see that."

Eliz remembered a scenario that Aloy taught her since she could practically walk.

 _A farmer grows food to feed the rich. Without the shards from the rich, the farmer couldn't have enough shards to grow the food. Without the food, the rich would starve to death. The rich don't see this, unfortunately, but we can. We always be thankful for the people who work day and night to support us._

* * *

One thing that Eliz always loved was Erend's beans. She always looked forward to them on some days. That was all he knew to cook, and of course, her mother wasn't much of a cook as-is. That night, however, Eliz felt terrible for what she did to the boy, and never said anything to her father, that is, until Aloy spoke up.

"Eliz got into a fight today." Erend gave a grunt from the back of his throat.

"She beat the boy pretty bad. Broke his nose."

He looked over to Eliz, and smiled. "Give it a few years and you might break some bones!" Before his next sentence, Aloy kicked his leg. As Erend grunted in pain, Aloy was packing her gear, having finished her dinner. "Are you sure you'll be fine on your own?" Erend asked, giving a worried look. She nodded before opening the door. "I'm used to it."

One thing that Eliz grew up knowing was that her father was always worried about her mother going hunting. He knew her capabilities, so his worry always questioned her. It wasn't until she was old enough when she learned the answer.

Eliz was around thirteen, fourteen when she was introduced to the Vanguard. The men shook her hand, patted her back, the like. "Your mother saved us, you know," she would always hear. Erend always kept Eliz close by to him during his shift. Eliz quickly grew bored, and would try to find ways to get some adrenaline from her body. Being like her mother in terms of hunting instincts, she would bide her time hunting rodents.

On the way back home from the shift, the walk grew tense when he stopped. "Something wrong, Dad?" Eliz scratched the back of her head. She had the same tic as her father, which would be from scratching her head, or rubbing her nose. He sighed. "Look, you know why I've been taking you with me, right?"

"To show you how your men work?"

"Not really." Erend took a seat on a bench near the water.

"Is it to train me how to be an Oseram like you?" Eliz took a seat next to her Dad. She leaned onto his shoulder.

"You said you've been wanting to compete in The Lodge, right? We want to make sure you get that opportunity when you're older."

"What about Mom? She hasn't been home as often as she used to."

"Your Mom has, well, a lot going on. She lets her compassion get the best of her, and makes shards helping everyone she can. You know about the things she's done."

"Right."

A long pause of silence filled the air as the father-daughter duo watched the birds through the water.

"Look, Eliz, I'm sure you're scared for your Mom."

"I'm scared for you, Dad. You freak out a lot about Mom."

"Right."

Erend looked down to his thumbs and sighed.

"Your Mom's got news of some things that happened to the past being repeated. She's out saving the world like she did before we had you."

"Why didn't she take us?" Eliz began to hurt, knowing her Mom left without her.

"She wants you to be safe. She doesn't have to worry about me, but we need you to know your way to the whole survival thing."

Granted, Aloy did come home often. If she was out away from the area, Meridian was the first place she came back to, as she missed her family more than anything. However, what hurt Aloy the most was the fact that she was missing Eliz's adolescence, especially with the training her daughter was going through.

Eliz took her training more to heart, to match to her mother. One event boosted her urge to impress Aloy- The Lodge. Eliz trained rigorously, mastering her signature whip, in addition to close ranged such as daggers and brawling. Eliz, however, was not a bow enthusiast, and couldn't take up arms. That hit her more than anything. She wanted to know every weapon.

Erend tried to remind Eliz that her mother didn't need to be impressed. It wasn't that he was worried about Eliz getting hurt at the lodge. It was the truth. He tried to remind Eliz every day that Aloy loved her more than the world. She didn't need to be impressed by her own daughter. Still, Eliz kept the urge in her mind, and was obsessed with it. She wanted Aloy to take her with on adventures.

 _Little did Eliz know that her own adventure was much darker than her mother's._


	3. Three Suns and a Red Moon

**Author's Note: I haven't typed up a fanfiction in years. I've been too busy with college, considering I'm steps away from my Bachelor's and soon on to my Master's (GRE in June, Baby). I'm a little rough on the writing, so apologies if it's rather, er, too fast-paced.**

 **Eliz is actually pronounced like "Ei-leez," like similarly to Eileen. Also, if she had a voice actress, it would be Ashley Johnson (Ellie from The Last of Us).**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

Eliz trained under both her father and a Vanguard friend, one who was skilled enough to have Aloy and Erend's trust. Eliz's signature weapon was a whip, complete with spiked spheres on each end. Once around the area, Eliz was unstoppable. However, she had a slot on her right arm to release a blade, a dagger of sorts, in case an enemy got too close.

Her skill worked mostly for human enemies. Her skill, however, was unknown and back-and-forth for machines. For her fifteenth birthday, Aloy gave her a copy of the four cauldrons she had received on her journeys before Eliz's birth. With modifications under way, Eliz was almost unstoppable with said cauldrons.

When Eliz turned sixteen, she lost focus of her stance and got her whip wrapped around her leg, almost amputating it. With stitches and a heavy cast, Eliz was doomed to sit around all day with nothing to do. Erend brought back books he came across, hoping Eliz would find fun in reading. She took her frustration, however, to messing more with her whip, making sure her focus would never fall again.

When exhausted, Eliz did however turn to the books. They were in fact old books that Aloy came across and read in the ruins. Eliz knew more than her mother did about The Old Ones, even technological advantages, which gave her a knack for crafting and modifications.

* * *

The day finally came to enter The Lodge when Eliz was almost to nineteen. When the day came, Eliz tried to stick to her normal morning routine before heading to the hunting grounds. She got her own brew to drink, just enough to keep her smiling. Oseram was one thing Eliz inherited quite well. However, she was nearly as bad as her own father. Once finishing, she darted her way back home to father her equipment. Upon traveling the streets, Eliz's eyes gleamed with excitement and didn't notice she bumped into a hunter. "Watch it, Kid!" the man shouted, causing her to snap back into reality. She noticed by the attire that he was certainly what she thought he was. "Sorry, sir!"

The man laughed right into Eliz's face.

"Are you entering The Lodge or are you just making your way out to the lands?"

Eliz shrugged. "heading to the grounds to retrieve my suns."

The man laughed again. His eyes scanned the young woman from head to toe. His demeanor immediately changed.

"Well, if you survive, and get all the suns, maybe I can show you around The Lodge."

His confidence sent Eliz a chill down her spine. Maybe he smelled the Oseram brew emit from her lips, or maybe he just eyed women every now and then. Eliz scoffed, and went along her day with her belongings.

Eliz was close to nineteen. The day was her birthday, just hours before her birth, and there was no way in hell some old goon was going to spoil her day.

Aloy gave her daughter is worried look. "Eliz, are you sure you're ready?"

Eliz wanted to follow through her whole life, and become part of The Lodge. She knew it was a way to prove to Aloy her strength to allow travel.

"On your birthday, too," Aloy continued.

Eliz wasn't having it. She wasn't going back. She was relieved to hear her Dad stick up for her. "Aloy, look, the girl's been training her whole life. Don't forget you were in The Proving, and note, you met me, when you were her age." Aloy still didn't have confidence in her daughter. The Whip was an insane weapon to master, and felt that Eliz didn't have finesse to wield it. In reality, she was afraid Eliz would surely be killed. It was one thing for Aloy to have dealt with The Lodge herself, and even The Proving, but it was different for her own daughter. Her mother instincts ate at her. Erend reminded her that he was afraid himself, but knew that Eliz was an adult. He stated that he had faith in her, and knew her limits.

* * *

The night before, Eliz came across her trainer. Bradeur had confidence in his apprentice, however, felt the anxiety, and a mixture of a gut feeling that things will not end well. "Eliz, is this really what you want?"

"You've trained me and I've trained my whole life. Of course this is what I want!"

The girl gave her trainer a hard look of determination. He sighed. He knew that no one was able to stop her. "Then off you go. Just remember that you're one of few people to wield the whip. Do not glorify it; show each and every machine that you're not there for show."

"What makes you think I'm showing off?"

"We all know why you're entering, Eliz. Your mother wants what's best for you."

"Oh, did you talk to her?"

Eliz's trust to both Aloy and Bradeur diminished. He sighed. She obviously wasn't having his staggering confidence in her, just as her mother expressed the same. Eliz was sure she was going to win all three suns. She had to.

* * *

The grounds looked just as she remembered it. She remembered visiting the machine-investment for years on end, to remind herself what was out there. Each machine had its own uniqueness, but she knew better. As she sat at the ledge, letting her legs flow free with the wind, a shadow crept up from behind her. "You're Eliz, aren't you?"

She turned her head to see a man of dark skin. He was definitely older, probably, around his sixties. He had modifications implanted into his skin, as if he had blue wires sticking out as if he was a cyborg.

"My name is Sylens. I obtain knowledge from your mother every once in awhile. She's told me a great deal about you."

Eliz stood onto her feet. She was just about a couple feet from the man. She sighed. "Did she send you to look out for me?" Eliz demanded. She figured her parents would send someone to look after her. Sylens laughed.

"I look after myself. Not you, not your mother, and certainly not that drunk father of yours."

A surge of anger raced through her veins. She didn't hear herself yell, "Don't you talk about my Dad like that!" The man showed no remorse, if not even any emotion at all. He sighed, before replying, "Look, come talk to me after you do your thing. Your Mom asked me to give you a present for your birthday." The man then turned, and stormed away, from the ledge, out into the lands.

The woman scoffed, before inspecting more of the action before her. "Which trial are you willing to do first?" the judge asked calmly. She sighed to release any anxiety. After her first chosen one, she sighed again, before she rappelled from the ledge with her whip.

* * *

Tying enemies up was easy for Eliz. Her whip was modified to adjust length. With her dagger in play, she attempted to scrape the component from the Trampler as it struggled to break free. She kicked the component over again until it came apart. All-in-all, Eliz was rather fast, just like her mother. However, knowing she was giving it her all, she definitely looked forward to the pale of water on that ledge. Completing the removal of components from two Tramplers, Eliz was given her first sun. As she made it back on the ledge, she collapsed to her knees. The woman rubbed her ankles and feet violently, trying to soothe the tense muscles. Her hands then went straight into the closest pale of water. She drowned the water over her face, as it covered over her sweat. After a few minutes of regaining her composure, Eliz took the second challenge.

The second challenge was actually much harder. The Glinthawks gave absolutely no shits as they tried to dive down and scoop Eliz. As a sphere wrapped around one's leg, it dove right into the ground. The young woman climbed onto its back, trying to keep her balance, as she attempted to scrape out the component. One down, one to go. As she applied her cauldron into the back of its neck, she commanded it to fly to the next Glinthawk. She rappelled the sphere around its leg, and rode the whip to the nearest ground that her feet could touch. She gave her muscles some tension as she pulled the Glinthawk to the ground. Pinning the rest of the length around its wings, she climbed up again. The second time was actually easier than the first.

Again, the young girl scooped up that pale of water. Her heart felt like it was going to leap out of her chest. Just one more trial, and Eliz was able to make her way into the lodge.

The third trial was saved for last for one reason: she was able to sneak her way around efficiently for the amount of time it required. Eliz donned slips, making it easy for her to sneak with efficiency. She however allowed more time to rest before taking on the last trial, mostly to soothe the muscles in her legs before making her way out.

Eliz slid to the bottom of the ledge for her last trial. She sped to the first ledge with the shards. Throwing the whip to the end, and grasping her whole body weight up the ledge, she collected the shards, and moved on. The second one was within whip length. The third was rather harder to collect, as a Glinthawk was already searching for itself. The young girl slid underneath, as quietly as she could, and slid under the dead watcher, collecting what was left. Suddenly, she felt weight squish between her and the body. She processed what was happening: the Glinthawk was stepping its foot onto the watcher to crush the remains. Eliz then kicked The Watcher up, stunning The Glinthawk, as she climbed up its body. She applied The Cauldron to gain control. After doing so, she rode it back, within the time limit, to receive her last Sun.

Something didn't seem right to the girl, especially by the fact that Sylens approached her. At first, she thought to herself that the trials were rigged. Her subconscious ate at her regarding the thought. Nonetheless, she collected her gear, and rode the Glinthawk back to Meridian.

* * *

Petting the machine, and dismissing it, Eliz entered through the gates. She stumbled, but nonetheless, made her way back to the market. Aloy and Erend both waited patiently. "So, you got your way in?" Erend asked, placing his hand on her shoulder. She nodded, but gave a pout. "Something wasn't right about it. It felt draining, but rather easy." With her words bold and with an angry tone, Aloy and Erend both looked at each other. They shrugged, before escorting their daughter to the nearest pub.

With Eliz's words in mind, Aloy stopped Eliz from entering the door. "Listen, Eliz," she said calmly. "You probably thought it was easy because you had an advantage."

"And what kind of advantage is that? Your power?"

Aloy shook her head.

"The whip has multiple functions. You're able to rappel with it, climb with it-"

"So you were watching me?"

Eliz's tone hit Aloy in the gut. She shook her head and sighed. "Sylens told me about it."

"So you sent Sylens out to watch me?"

"No. He came on his own. You can never make him do anything."

Out of the blue, Erend came out, having heard their conversation, and added, "Yeah, no shit. There's no getting to that bastard." He handed his daughter some beer, and smiled. "He did tell your mother that you're pretty good with the whip, though." With that thought, Eliz took her first sip. She savored the flavor.

"So, I hear you were talking about me." Sylens approached the small family from inside the bar. He chuckled a bit, having heard Erend's opinion. "I watched you because your Mom told me about your training. You sure know how to handle that whip of yours."

"Phrasing!" Erend interrupted. Aloy kicked him in the calf.

"Eliz, since it's your birthday, your mother asked me to give you this."

Eliz's eyes gleamed with the shine of the focus that Sylens presented to her. If there was one thing that anyone was able to convince Sylens to do, it would have been that. "But you know your parents," he continued on. "They said they can't get me to do anything, so I gave it to you because I wanted to."

Eliz slipped a "thank-you" from her lips as she placed the focus inside her ear. Upon turning it on, she saw a lot of tech that she's never seen before. After being amazed, she then shouted a "thank-you" before laughing with excitement.

"Aloy, Erend, may I speak to you for a moment, in private?" Sylens then asked, as the trio took off. They weren't far from the girl, but within enough space for Eliz to bring her suns to the Lodge.

* * *

As she made her way up the stairs, Eliz suddenly heard screams coming from in front of her. People began to run out from around her. She slowly made her way to the prayer's circle, to see many people mutilated, dying, and/or dead. Having never seen an organic creature of any sorts spill blood, in exception to her own, she froze. Eliz began to lose focus of the commotion around her. She was suddenly knocked over by a young man making his way to safety. Around her were machines of many sorts, including aerial, and mysterious figures making their way to every being around the area, before finishing off innocents. Eliz witnessed Glinthawks grab passerby, before lifting them in the air, and squeezing the poor souls in two. What Eliz witnessed was enough to spark a mixture of emotions. Before she got up and removed her whip, Guards made their way in, putting up a fight with the intruders. Eliz ran her way back to where her parents were.

* * *

When she didn't see her parents upon making her way into the tavern, she was grabbed by an unknown figure from behind her. A young teenage boy, around her age, pulled her into an alleyway, leading her to her home. Aloy and Erend met the boy in the middle of the alley, dragging him along with her. As they ran into the apartment, locking the door, they took a small breather. Aloy looked to Sylens. "This was what you were talking about," she said softly.

Eliz had no idea what was happening. As the "adults" talked their way to a plan, Eliz slowly dragged her feet up the stairs. She sat on her parents' bed, and began to quietly sob.


	4. Running Away

**Author's Note: I haven't typed up a fanfiction in years. I've been too busy with college, considering I'm steps away from my Bachelor's and soon on to my Master's (GRE in June, Baby). I'm a little rough on the writing, so apologies if it's rather, er, too fast-paced.**

 **Eliz is actually pronounced like "Ei-leez," like similarly to Eileen. Also, if she had a voice actress, it would be Ashley Johnson (Ellie from The Last of Us).**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

"Eliz!"

Eliz wasn't too focused on her parents nudging at her as she attempted to process the situation she had been in. "We have to go!" she heard, muffled, as if it was distant. The woman shook her head before getting up. She scuffled to the bottom floor. "When we open the door," Erend began, "We're heading straight to the palace. We need to check on Avad!"

With that, he kicked the door open. Eliz slapped herself before grabbing her whip. "Stay focused," she told herself, over and over again. Her parents ran straight towards the palace, and Sylens urged Eliz to follow him. She threw one side of the whip to the rooftop of the building, and climbed her way up. Sylens followed behind her. Luckily, due to their location, the intruders weren't able to see them. When she witnessed her parents getting into short fights, Sylens did what he could to put them down. In the distance, Eliz noticed Glinthawks making their way towards the two. "We have to run," Eliz called. When the duo got to the gate, there was fight between Carja guards and the intruders. "Start using your Focus," Sylens barked. While Sylens took on an approaching Glinthawk, Eliz turned on her Focus. She saw commotion at the Palace, which caused a small panic. "We have to go! NOW!" With that, Sylens had already finished off the Glinthawk. Aloy and Erend already snuck their way through the commotion via the cranes from under the bridge. Eliz rolled her hand, causing the whip to roll with it, and threw it to grab hold of the nearest platform. The duo began to follow Eliz's parents until they made it to the entrance of the palace.

Luckily, it was still safe for the moment being. Aloy and Erend were quickly greeted by a young man, around eighteen. He bowed. Eliz knew the boy, since even before they were little. He was also an Oseram child, but also a Carja, as he was the Sun King's son. Cy wasn't necessarily confident in himself, contrary to his name. He was shy and timid. "We have to get you out of here!" Aloy said softly, gripping the boy's arm. "Where's your father?"

"Up ahead. My Uncle Itamen and grandmother are with him as well."

Cy approached Avad with a grim expression on his face. Avad perked up upon seeing his comrades enter the tent. "We may have to use the tunnel to find safety," Avad noted. Over the course of the years, the tunnel was constructed for situations such as that. Itamen, now a strong and capable young man, removed the entrance from under a rug. The grandmother, now much older and frail, proceeded to climb her way inside. Erend kept an eye out the tent for anyone who managed to approach. He urged Eliz to enter once everyone else has done so. With a pout, she sighed, and made her way. One thing that Eliz wasn't fond of was tunnels. She hated small spaces, and a rocky ceiling above her head. She always had nightmares of being covered by debris and rubble. She hoped and even prayed that she wouldn't become victim to it at that moment.

The group was greeted by Vanasha, a much older Uthid, and some of his men. "I saw the attack," she said in a soft whisper. Avad looked down. "I didn't even hear anyone plan it. I figured the Shadow Carja would be responsible, unless perhaps they were too wary of spies and constructed a new plan with a smaller group," Vanasha continued. Aloy placed her hand on Vanasha's shoulder as they continued onwards. After a sigh left her lips, she began her bit. "Sylens made his way to Meridian as fast as he could, but it was too late. He has an idea on who attacked, but it's not from where you were," Aloy slipped to Vanasha. The woman in purple looked to the older man. She smiled. "We appreciate every bit of information," she said to Sylens. Eliz kept close to her father. She even grabbed his hand, and squeezed it as tight as she could.

The group traveled as far as Daytower, upon a short meet with some Oseram soldiers. The royal family was moved into a small cart, and with Aloy's help, the cart was soon carried on not by people, but by nearby Striders. Upon Daytower's entrance, Aloy and Erend were quickly greeted by a familiar face to them. However, Eliz stood next to Cy, with her lips pursed, one side curled up into her cheek. The man approached the two younger beings and introduced himself. "We have shelter for you and your family, Young Cy," Balahn said softly. Cy nodded, before moving off to join with his family. Balahn then placed a hand on Eliz's shoulder. "You're the young one of the Nora and Oseram," he started. "I've never heard of a result of those two tribes, but you look capable."

Eliz scoffed. She rubbed the dark circles that formed under her eyes. "Appreciate it, Sir."

"Your mother and Father said they will be making their way to The Claim. Will you be following, Ma'am?"

Eliz turned to her parents, and turned around to look at Sylens. Much to her disappointment, Sylens had already disappeared.

* * *

Eliz definitely had a liking to Sylens during their short meet together. Granted, he was old. Eliz definitely was not fond of older people. On the other hand, he was also strong, capable, and knowledgable, which were traits that gained her respect. Eliz entered a small hut. She tugged at her rich brown hair. For the first time in days, she got to process all that was happening. She's seen people die. Her home is most likely gone. She doesn't know who made it out, in exception to the royal family. Eliz's mind was spinning, as tears began to stream down her face. All she wanted to do was run away.

That night, she did run away. As she witnessed her parents curled in a cuddle on the bed across from her, she packed some belongings. She unclipped her Oseram overskirt from her waist, and clipped it up higher, around her neck, to provide some warmth. Eliz left the hut, and made her way to the entrance. She was stopped by a few Carja guards. "We were asked to leave you here, Ma'am," the one right from her notified. Eliz wasn't having it. She moaned in a bored tone. The young woman walked back to the middle of Daytower, trying to figure out how to free herself. She remembered the night she and Sylens jumped onto the rooftops. She did just that, jumping from shingle to shingle, and rappelling down the mountain, out of sight. She didn't know where she was going, but with her Birthday Focus, and a sense of curiosity, she went wherever her feet took her.

Eliz entered a small settlement North of Daytower. She rolled the whip around her sides, doing a slight whistle. It was a reckless move, as anyone within distance would surely be slaughtered by the sphere. With the other side wrapped around her hips, she made her way to the first pub. The settlement was definitely of Oseram origin, which suited her just fine. Eliz grabbed a pint, complete in a stein. She sat on the ground, sipping the savoring taste of the beer. She scratched her roots, as her rich, brown locks began to tangle. Pulling her fingers down her hair, she attempted to brush it out. Once Eliz finished her brew, she placed the stein on the counters, although it upset her because she liked the design. The young woman dragged her feet to the nearest haystack, before making a spot. She began to drift off, as she hadn't in over a day.

* * *

Eliz suddenly woke when she felt a hand trickle up her abdomen. Her eyes scanned to a few men standing in front of her, with hungry eyes. Of course, Eliz knew the situation first-hand, and knew how to get out of it. She yawned, gave the men bored eyes, considering her face naturally sat in a rather mean expression, and spat the first words of the confrontment. "Yeah, yeah, let me just stretch a bit before we do this," Eliz said in a rather sarcastic tone. When she raised her arms out, one man grabbed her right bicep. "You won't need to," he said, flirtatiously. Eliz scoffed. The man moved his hand down to her forearm, and then to her hand. He suddenly violently jerked her forward into his arms. Eliz rolled her eyes, and pressed her pinky in a certain motion that caused the man's eyes to suddenly jerk open. The men were immediately stunned when the first one bent forward in pain. Eliz removed the dagger from his chest. "Anyone else want a piece of this?" she yelled slightly, confident that she could handle the other three. One, angered, began to approach her, attempting to grab her. Eliz summoned her whip, sliding from the man's grasp, and wrapped two of the spheres around his shoulder blades. When the second and third men attempted to attack from behind, Eliz slid to the side, allowing them to trip on the wires from the whip. Their weight from the whip sent the spheres flying from the second intruder's shoulder blades, mutilating his torso. The other two spheres messily hit right through the other two men, decapitating them. Eliz, again, witnessed the gore that sent shivers down her spine the first night. This time, she was party to the murder of four men who attempted to rape her. Her knees began to fall weak, as surrounding passerby witnessed the messy event. Some people began to scream. Ohers continued to watch her collect the whip back to its slot. She had to clean the mess from them. She never imagined she would be picking brains from spikes.

Eliz soon ran away from the settlement when the guards began to approach her and the bodies. She thought she would just stun and wound them. She didn't think she would actually end up killing the men. She dropped her whips into the river, hoping the current would wash away the mutilated parts and blood. She summoned her hidden blade, dragging it through the shallow area of the water, running it through the dirt and sand. Her subconscious prompted her to make out a small design in the sand. "Mom and Dad are probably worried," she told herself over and over again. Regardless, she knew she didn't want to go back.

* * *

As a few days passed, Eliz continued to take on machines rather than make her way into settlements. Machines weren't as much as a big deal as humans. They were just machines, right? As she scuffled through the tall grass, Eliz slowly made her way up to the closest machines she could, and would quickly override them, to allow a distraction for her to pass. However, this tactic didn't play much of an effect on her shard situation. Eliz was running out quickly, and her hidden dagger was growing dull. Eliz just needed a forging station- just one. No shards, allow her to do the rest. Eliz walked all the way to the only other place she knew that existed, Pitchcliff. She remembered going there multiple times growing up. She knew the way there and back to Meridian. In the back of Eliz's head, she definitely wanted to go back to see how damaged the city really was. She made her way into the settlement, and ran to the nearest forging station to begin her work. Eliz began to use a tool to remove the dagger from her gauntlet, before running it through spinning metal. She sighed. "I've done this before," she would tell herself over and over again. The only problem was, one mistake, and her whole hand could end up taken by the wheel. Placing her right hand into a mit, Eliz ran the blade through the metal. She looked away from the sparks as they painfully tickled onto her abdomen. When she finished, she slowly slid her finger through the blade to make sure it was sharp enough. Once satisfied, Eliz clipped the dagger back into the gauntlet, and re-secured it.

Eliz soon left the settlement on her own, despite some Oseram guards protesting. One approached her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Ma'am," he began, "I know you were out in the lands for awhile. Rest is on me." With that in mind, Eliz curved her lips into a half-smile. She definitely wanted to rest. At the same time, she didn't think she could until she could reach back to Meridian.

The guard who asked her to stay didn't show his face. She definitely knew that he was around her age, though, judging from his voice. The man opened his hut and allowed her to take his bed. "I have this shift, so you may sleep in here," he said softly. Eliz questioned his motives, and his reasoning for being so nice. At the same time, she was exhausted, and just wanted a good night's rest. The bed was way too comfortable for her to begin to worry. Eliz suddenly drifted to sleep as fast as she went in.

* * *

Hours later, she was woken by a hand nudging her shoulder. The same Oseram guard was standing at the bed before her. "Eliz," he said softly. Eliz asked herself how he knew her name. She moved up and let her legs hang from the bed to the floor. He sat next to her, removing his gear. "How do you know my name?" she groggily asked. Once the young man removed his helmet, he turned his head to see her.

"I've seen you many times with the Captain. You're the Captain's daughter."

Eliz gave him a confused look.

"I was sent here from Meridian. I was just a rookie when I was around fifteen. You were probably around thirteen when your Dad brought you out to see us train."

Eliz remembered the day her Dad took her to introduce her to the Vanguard. However, the young man didn't strike a resemblance of any sorts.

He was definitely built, no doubt. However, his face was rather young. The young man had lighter blond hair, which was loose. His eyes were almond shaped, which gleamed with the sun, showing a grey-ish hue. His nose was soft, but rounded. His lips were thin, and scratched up, most likely from the Meridian attack.

Eliz removed herself from the bed before grabbing her whip. She definitely remembered his face at this point, and knew she would meet him again.

"I'm Deo, by the way."

Eliz nodded, waving her hand in the air as if mocking a handshake. "Pleasure to meet you, Deo. I have to run. Please don't tell my Dad that you saw me."

"I kind of hand no choice. All the Vanguard saw you here."

Eliz scoffed, before opening the door. She rubbed the back of her neck, before making her way back onto the road. If there was one trait that Eliz had, it was her stubbornness. There was no convincing the girl to do anything. She knew that more than anyone. It was a common Oseram trait.

Eliz quickly took her closest opportunity to override a Strider, before horsing her way back to Meridian. "If they were smart," she began to tell herself, "They would meet me there." Eliz let her whip flow freely in the warm, sandy air as said sand went through her like a gust of air. One thing Eliz hated more than anything was getting sand in her eyes. She knew no matter what that it would anyways, however.

Eliz began to have an anxiety attack as she began to picture how Meridian would look after the attack. She wasn't fond of the idea of Meridian being a ruin. The young woman had a fear that contradicted her parents: she was afraid of ruins. She was afraid of rubble. She was afraid of being buried alive. One small slip and she would be crushed by heavy debris. Eliz tried to not let the thought eat at her as she continued on.

Some of the way, she still questioned why Deo was so kind to her. Yeah, he told her that he was in the Vanguard. It didn't matter- he still didn't have any obligation to treat her like that. He wasn't obligated to offer his hospitality. Usually, men who offered such had darker motives. Deo was different however. "Maybe it's the age," Eliz said out loud, not thinking as such. The Strider halted, hearing the words. "I was talking about Deo!" Eliz huffed a groan in addition to her spat back to the Strider.

Once the clear night hit, Eliz made camp near the water. Water was her favorite thing. She was so fond of it, as it trickled through her fingertips. The Strider made a spot near her, acting as an alarm for any intruders. Eliz knew to stay quiet, however, to prevent any machines from ways away from identifying her. She knew to stick to the road as it was the safest option. Eliz yawned as she removed her Oseram overskirt from her hips. She folded it as if it were a pillow. With that, she leaned it against a stump of a fallen tree.

 _Please, Carja and Vanguard. I hope you saved the city._


	5. First Trip

**Author's Note: I haven't typed up a fanfiction in years. I've been too busy with college, considering I'm steps away from my Bachelor's and soon on to my Master's (GRE in June, Baby). I'm a little rough on the writing, so apologies if it's rather, er, too fast-paced.**

 **Eliz is actually pronounced like "Ei-leez," like similarly to Eileen. Also, if she had a voice actress, it would be Ashley Johnson (Ellie from The Last of Us).**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

On the trip to Meridian, Eliz made her way to a small camp that was occupied by an older woman. She seemed rather, well, _loopy._ Nonetheless, Eliz quickly took a liking to her, considering she donned pretty radical goggles. "Are those seeing things from The Old Ones?" Eliz asked, her curiosity getting the best of her. The woman smiled, and nodded. The younger woman decided to take a small look around the area, before sitting down at the camp with the older woman. "What's your name?" Eliz asked softly.

The woman didn't speak her name. She just nodded.

"Your name, Ma'am?"

"Whatever you think I'm called, Darling."

Eliz pursed her lips as one end curled into her cheek. Her eyebrows were stern and straight, as she slowly grew agitated with the older woman. That was cut short upon discovery of the many tribal tattoos that covered the older woman's skin. "Where did you get those tattoos?" Eliz asked. She always had a fascination for tattoos, as she saw them to be art. The woman smiled again at the young woman. "Sit down, Darling," the woman implored. Eliz shrugged, before making a spot on a stump. The older woman reached down into her belongings, before holding out a small bowl. Inside the bowl was black ink. "No one else had asked. I tattoo myself," she said, shakily. "I get specific herbs to make my ink. Darling, the ink isn't like the ink other tribes use." The older woman made her way back to her tent,before taking out a needle from her clothing. Eliz almost asked what it was made out of, before she was taken by surprise. The woman heated the needle with the campfire. Upon making a seat, the woman dipped the needle into the ink, and pricked Eliz's bicep. After an "OW" escaped Eliz's lips, she stood up, holding her arm in pain. "Darling, tattoos are pain," the woman said again. "Just let the ink take you away. It always does."

Eliz nodded before making a spot next to the woman again. Again, the needle pricked into her skin. Eliz didn't know what design the woman was drawing onto her, but after a few pricks, the needle didn't seem to hurt anymore. In the contrary, Eliz began to feel light. Her body began to go numb, before she began to hallucinate. The clouds began to move at a rapid pace. The ground began to move. Eliz fell hook, line, and sinker into getting drugs injected into her arm.

* * *

After an hour's worth of trip, Eliz came-to, feeling groggy and irritated. She had no idea what the herb was, but damn, was it addicting. Eliz wanted more. When she sat up, her bicep felt sore. When she inspected the new piece of art onto her arm, it looked like a distorted half-moon. "Why did she draw this?" Eliz said aloud. Her new motive for the way to Meridian was to find out what the herb was. She wanted to break down every herb she found, into concentrated ink. The problem was that she didn't know how.

Eliz passed through Sun-Steps, which was converted into a settlement. Sun-Steps was her favorite place to go when she traveled to and from Pitchcliff. As she collected some gear to continue on, as she wasn't far from Meridian, she encountered another ink master, or tattooist. He immediately noticed the half-moon on her left bicep and nodded. "That's nice work you've had done," he said in a rather impressed done. Eliz shook her head. "Nice for you to say that, sir. I was drugged by the ink!"

The man's eyes opened. "You met _her?"_

The young woman shrugged.

"There's a woman who goes around inking people. She drugs them with concentrated Salvebrush. No one knows why."

 _Salvebrush, huh?_

At least Eliz knew what herb to break down. The only question was _how_. The woman thanked the tattooist, before finishing her run on supplies in case any machines or Meridian Intruders came her way.

As she stepped foot on the soil, her heart felt like it was going to leap out. Eliz let her tic get the best of her, as she began to consistently scratch at her nose. Her heart suddenly dropped when she witnessed the ruins that Meridian turned out to be.

On the other hand, Meridian was also in control of the intruders. She caught a few of them walking on the ledges of debris, prompting Eliz to hide, "You have to be kidding me," she said in a harsh tone, yet quietly, almost in a whisper. Before she would go further, Eliz suddenly felt a hand grab her sore arm. She winced in pain, and moved her right arm as she was ready to wound whoever tried to grab her.

"It's me!"

She pushed the figure away, trying to regain her composure. The figure was in a Vanguard uniform. Deo removed his helmet. He witnessed wide eyes looking at him, as Eliz's jaw hung. She rubbed her eyes, still attempting to grasp the situation.

"Your parents are looking for you, Ma'am!"

Eliz suddenly grew irritated of his voice.

"And where are they?"

The young man scratched the back of his head. He pointed towards the gate. Two figures were slumped against the pillars, arms crossed. Erend waved to his daughter. Aloy waved less enthusiastically. Eliz sighed, before waving back.

* * *

"You're rather… unscathed." Aloy rubbed her eyes after scanning her daughter. Eliz scoffed. "Funny, Mom!" she barked back. Upon seeing the new tattoo on her daughter's arm, Aloy scoffed in return, with a small smirk at one side of her face. "Well, since you're all Big Huntress, I don't need to worry about you, do I?" the mother chuckled in the process of her sentence. She then placed her hand on Eliz's bicep, before she squeezed it. Erend stepped in with a smile. "That's just her way of saying she's relieved that you're okay." Funny enough, the big man was better at showing his relief of his daughter's status than her own mother.

Nonetheless, while Eliz was convinced that Aloy may have been a robot, Erend would always remind her that her mother was a caring individual. It was hard to see it, considering she's never even seen her own mother cry. Aloy was the type who always showed that she cared, but to Eliz, it was awkward. Aloy probably knew that, and tried to be a hard-ass. At the same time, Eliz grew up to see Aloy as more of the friend who told her when she was wrong. She wasn't the type to discipline, but she was always the type to say something, in exception to Erend, who has quite a few bruises on his shin.

Erend placed his hand on Deo's shoulder, before announcing who he really was. Eliz learned that The Vanguard underwent training, with request of a few Nora outcasts, on how to become expert spies. Deo was roughly a year or two older than Eliz, but he knew his way around to a point that she couldn't match up to it. Eliz questioned why the Oseram wanted spies if they were more of the "up-and-at-your-face" kinds. When her question was heard out loud, Erend was more than willing to answer. "This is why," he stated, pointing to the ruins of Meridian.

"Eliz, those people who attacked are the remnants of The Shadow Carja. You remember the stories I told you, right?"

Eliz nodded.

"They have something planned, but it's more devastating."

Aloy placed her hand on her husband's shoulder, encouraging her to take over the explanation. He rolled his wrist with a gesture of "Go right ahead." Aloy rubbed her temples before she began her bit.

" _The Shadow Carja have a new leader, and I have no idea who he is. You met Vanasha the night we got The Royal Family out. Vanasha is our spy, and even she can't figure it out. Whoever is spreading their message must be that resistant to letting any word of it leave outside whoever he or she trusts."_

Eliz shook her head and responded, "Wait. You're telling me that they could possibly be sending their soldiers in, and the soldiers don't even know what the hell they're doing?"

"They're probably just told to secure whatever area at the last second," Erend butt in.

Eliz groaned. She knew the world was going downhill, but not like it was.

"So, basically, our beloved savior, my own mother, must go track the wankers that caused all this?"

"Language!" Aloy huffed.

Eliz groaned again. She certainly was not looking forward to whatever journey was in store for her. All she wanted to do was become a huntress and have her mother take her with. She wanted credibility. Aloy began to walk East, and gave the other three a "come-hither" gesture with her finger. Eliz followed reluctantly.

* * *

That night, Eliz planned to get into Meridian. She wanted to see how many prisoners were taken alive, just out of curiosity. As she strapped her gear, Deo stopped her. "Your mother said to wait here for further instructions," he softly warned. Eliz of course was not having it. "Deo, you're gonna make me lose my mind," she started, with an additional gesture of her palm facing downwards, her fingers stiff, but her hand positioned above her mouth. "Up in here," she finished. The young man scoffed. "You know I'm not going to allow you to retain your mind." One thing that Eliz noticed about Deo, was that he didn't understand sarcasm. She figured he had as many emotions as a bag of shards. However, for once, she was convinced to actually stay by his almond eyes being almost puppy-like. Eliz sat back down and sighed. She placed her equipment on the ground. "Better," he started. As he scanned her place her gauntlet on the ground, he noticed the scarring on her leg. "Where did that come from?" he asked softly, pointing to her left shin. Eliz shrugged.

"I got it when I did stuff wrong with my whip. My leg was hanging just slightly when they found me."

"Who?"

"The other Vanguard. I was training by myself, and my whip caught loose. The spikes ripped around, and tore through all except the whole bone."

"That sounds painful!"

"You bet it was!"

Deo was surprised that Eliz was very excited to explain such a gruesome moment. "I remember being in a lot of pain and blood was everywhere. Next thing I knew, my Dad was carrying me to the doctor, and his helmet flew off."

"You remember that much detail?"

"Only the helmet. I remember it hit a guy and I laughed because I was in so much pain that I was hallucinating."

Deo didn't laugh. He didn't chuckle. He just grunted. The Vanguard spy arched back, got comfortable, and turned to the side. "You should sleep, Eliz." Only issue with that was the fact that Eliz was restless. She wanted some action. She wanted to explore.

She grabbed her equipment when Deo was in deep sleep. She headed out, searching frantically for a Salvebrush. Upon finding a couple, she hurriedly collected them. Upon returning to the camp, Eliz made a spot from behind her tent, attempting to find a way to extract the oil into a small bowl-like piece of debris. With a few nicks at the limbs of the herbs of her hidden dagger, Eliz managed to extract the oil from inside. She let the dark oil drain into the debris. After minutes of doing so, she picked the bowl up, and made a spot next to the campfire. "She used a needle," Eliz said out loud, allowing the remaining oil on the knife to be heated into the campfire. After the dagger was red-hot, Eliz dipped it into the ink, and injected it into her arm. At first, it was painful, and blood began to pour from the newly inked area. Eliz made a small dot around the pointy edge of the moon. She made another dot around another pointy edge, before the trip began to kick in.

Eliz arched back, just about on the ground. Her legs wrapped around the stump/seat. She looked straight up at the sky, as it began to move again. She began to see all kinds of patterns and colors. She felt light as a feather. She felt her pupils dilate. Her hands felt numb and tingly. Her tongue felt puffy.

 _The second trip was enough to urge her to want even more after it wore off._


	6. Berserk

**Author's Note: I haven't typed up a fanfiction in years. I've been too busy with college, considering I'm steps away from my Bachelor's and soon on to my Master's (GRE in June, Baby). I'm a little rough on the writing, so apologies if it's rather, er, too fast-paced.**

 **Eliz is actually pronounced like "Ei-leez," like similarly to Eileen. Also, if she had a voice actress, it would be Ashley Johnson (Ellie from The Last of Us).**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

* * *

"I'm telling you, if they find out, we're pretty much enemies of the Nora!"

"Aloy, please calm down."

"I'm calm. I'm just reminding you the risks of using Nora Outcasts to train the Vanguard.

Eliz woke up next to the fire. She was slumped in a very uncomfortable position, with the additional mud bath she found herself in. She was woken up by the argument in the tent, which happened to be about Nora. It was surprising to her. In the household, any word of The Nora was prohibited, despite Eliz's mother being part of the tribe. Correction: Aloy was The Annointed. She was considered of special value to the tribe. Eliz overheard the bit about making enemies with the Nora.

 _Why would Mom risk her title for this?_

Eliz entered the tent to see her parents arguing. Her presence interrupted the Captain and Annointed. "Eliz," Aloy began, "Did you enjoy your dirt nap?"

"Funny Mom!"

Eliz hoped that her presence would shut the two up. She made her way out of the tent to meet the Vanguard. Deo was the first to greet her. He was caught eating a banana when he held his hand out.

"Oh, Deo! Deo!" Eliz said sarcastically. "Daylight come and you want to go home?"

The Vanguard snickered at the man who dropped the banana.

After what felt like forever, Eliz witnessed her parents leaving the tent, fully equipped. She gave a glare to Erend, who donned a battlecoat. It definitely had Oseram accents, such as the metal emblems that surrounded the leather. The hems and front of the coat consisted of stained fox pelt. Instead of the thicker striped fabric he usually donned to match the Vanguard, this time he was in pinstripe brown trousers, and a beige tunic. Eliz couldn't help but admire the badass-ery. Aloy grabbed hold of her arrow, before teasing Deo with "Looks like you stacked bananas 'til the morning come." With Deo's face reddened like a tomato, he followed the Annointed and Captain. Eliz turned on her focus for the first time in awhile. She scanned the amount of enemies before her. "I might as well bunch under six foot, seven foot, even eight feet," she said to herself.

* * *

To Eliz's surprise, a lot of Vanguard came crashing into Meridian and taking out Shadow Carja soldiers. She had no idea where they came from. She climbed up to a rooftop of a building, before running towards the prayer circle. She figured the prisoners were held there. Once she got within a certain distance, an awful smell traveled up her nostrils. Turning her focus on, it detected many entities that lay dormant around the area. It took her a few minutes to grasp that they were corpses.

Eliz ran to the edge of the roof to The Prayer Circle. Countless corpses were piled around the area. It wasn't just men and women who lay, rotting to birds, but even children. Eliz began to have a panic attack. It started with shaking, then the sudden tic she had from head scratching to scratching her nose. She paced frantically around the rooftops, before collapsing to her knees. The sudden crave for Salvebrush ran through her veins. She began to uncontrollably sob. Eliz suddenly had a wave of anger. Eliz suddenly blacked out.

She snapped back to reality at the time Aloy had one hand. Erend had another. She was reminded of a faint memory. When she was small, around two, three years old, the same scenario happened. Aloy held one hand, Erend the other. They were going to see Avad. It was Eliz's first time, and her excitement caused a running to almost breaking the bonds between her parents. Back in the present, however, she was lagging behind, and covered in blood and guts.

"Eliz!" Aloy kept yelling, as Eliz wasn't answering. Even though she was back in time, she wasn't able to hear anything. She paused, causing the other two to stop walking. Erend reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Wiping it over Eliz's shoulders, she sighed, when she began to hear things again. After sighing, she began to cry. "Eliz," Aloy said again. "You went on a spree. You lost control."

"I did?" Eliz looked down.

"Are you okay? You're completely, well, lost."

Erend wiped some blood off of Eliz's cheek. Tears replaced the smears. Eliz soon fell to her knees. "I saw corpses and I just lost it!" Eliz yelled. "I just blacked out and-"

"You went berserk."

Eliz felt her mother's hand pull hers into the air. With a little force, both Aloy and Erend lifted a side of Eliz. She was back on her feet, despite her knees felt weak. Aloy rubbed her daughter's back. Erend heard a noise from behind, before he swung his hammer. Eliz screamed as guts and blood flew around the area. She began to break down again. Aloy suddenly grasped that the time wasn't right for Eliz to be there. Erend yelled for his Vanguard to continue their search for survivors. With that, they both carried their daughter on each side, back to their tent.

* * *

"Eliz, I know it's gut wrenching. I know that it's hard to be out there, and it's hard to see what we've seen. That's just the way of survival."

Eliz didn't look up to her mother. Erend looked out the tent to make sure no machines nor men were approaching. Hurriedly, he said softly, "Eliz, please promise me you'll stay in here."

"I promise." Eliz wanted to actually stay in the tent.

She wanted to be alone. She wanted some time to herself, albeit it wasn't to collect her thoughts.

When Erend and Aloy left to continue the search, the first thing Eliz did was grab the bowl of Salzebrush. The fire was surely died out, but she attempted to start another one of her own. Running the blade through the flames, until it beat red, she dipped the dagger into the ink, and pierced herself again. Eliz experienced another high, hoping it would calm her nerves.

* * *

Eliz was brought back by a sudden jolt through her body. When she came to, a few Shadow soldiers stood in front of her, with mischevious grins. Eliz looked down to witness that some of her clothing was missing. She suddenly adapted to what happened. Angry, Eliz jumped on the man closest to her, the one who caused her to jolt awake. She had no idea where her whip was. Frankly, she didn't give a shit. Her fingers ran through the soldier's eyes, piercing into his eyeballs. One Shadow Soldier attempted to grab her from behind. She bit his arm, causing him to retreat. She then jumped on him, clawing his face, digging into the skin until she felt his skull. The third and final man was terrified from seeing his two comrades being mutilated by the young woman. He attempted to flee, but was met with a spear to his abdomen as Aloy and Erend ran into the tent. Aloy removed her spear. Erend quickly ran up to Eliz, grabbing her from behind. Still berserk, Eliz began to kick and scream frantically. Aloy grabbed her arms to sustain her before her own father ended up meeting the same fate as her rapists. He cupped his hands over her cheek. "Eliz!" he yelled again and again. Her light blue irises met his. Tears soon followed. "They-they" she stuttered every word, before she was pulled into an embrace. Aloy soon joined in, trying to comfort their daughter.

* * *

Eliz was wrapped in a blanket, yet clothed yet again. She was given a small mug made from the dirt they were standing on. Eliz frantically drank her water. She shook with such sudden force. Her mind spun. "We found the prisoners," Aloy said softly. She sat next to Eliz. "We got them all out and shipped them to Daytower." Eliz didn't care. She continued to sip her water. "I just want some booze," she said, shakily.

" _You're not right in the mind right now, Eliz. We can't risk you losing yourself again."_

Aloy's heart dropped when Eliz picked herself up. "I need booze!" she shouted again, that time without the shaky tone. Erend stepped his foot down, grabbing his daughter by her shoulders. "Look at me, Eliz. We need you with us. You're not going anywhere."

Angry, Eliz spat at him.

 _She certainly was not right in the head._

At the time, she grabbed her whip and gauntlet. Eliz stormed out of the tent. Aloy quickly got up to chase Eliz. "I'll track her!" Aloy said frantically. Erend suddenly grabbed her shoulder to stop her.

"She'll come back," he said with a somber tone.

This time, they switched roles.

"I'm a tracker, I'm tracking her down!" Aloy grabbed her spear and arrows. She reached her fingers to her focus, before Erend's hand met hers.

"Aloy," he said, in a rather harsh tone. "If we follow her, she's going to resist even more."

"She was just raped! Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Aloy rubbed her face as Erend grabbed his hammer. "She's not thinking straight, and she's fragile. We're just going to let her-"

"Shh!"

Aloy went quiet.

"Did you hear that?"

Aloy suddenly heard a small shuffle. A sudden thump caused her to jump a bit.

"Eliz?"

"Let's check it out."

Erend and Aloy came out of the tent, weapons up. They split around the tent. They found Deo making his way to the camp. "Did you see Eliz?" Erend barked. The young man shook his head. "She disappeared?" Deo's expression grew grim. He felt a bolt of anxiety simmer through him. "We have to find her!" he shouted, worriedly. With Eliz's parents nodding in agreement, the search party made their way around the camp to find the Huntress.

* * *

Eliz came-to in a river. Luckily, her face wasn't buried into the water, or else she would have surely drowned. She felt gross. The sudden memories came back to her, haunting her into tears. Eliz curled into a ball, where she began to cry uncontrollably. She didn't care that a shadow was looming towards her. Suddenly, a soft nudge caused her to turn. It was the strider she tamed before hitting Meridian.

Eliz, while still sobbing, embraced the Strider, rather tightly. "Don't leave me," she whispered. Still sobbing, Eliz bit her bottom lips, to the point they began to chap and bleed. After taking a deep breath, Eliz wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. She mounted onto the strider. "We have to find Sylens," she said to herself. Eliz urged the Strider to make way. Eliz made her way west. She prayed that it was the right direction.

Meanwhile, Erend and Aloy were hot on her feet, with help of Aloy's focus. As they traveled on foot, they suddenly came across strider tracks. "Erend, seriously, we should have went after her," Aloy huffed, angrily. The man shrugged. "Yeah, if you wanted to end up like those soldiers, be my guest." With the smartass answer, Erend damn well knew he was going to have a kick in the shin. At this point, Aloy felt like a plan was best to be prepped. "Okay, Deo, you go spy on Eliz. Find out where she's going. Find every bit of information you can. My guess is she's heading west to either take on the Shadow Carja or find Sylens."

"Sylens? Who's Sylens."

"Forget I said his name. Erend, you're going to find Eliz."

"Yes, my lady."

Aloy made an "X" with her spear into the sand. She sighed. "I'd hate to do this, but I'm going to take care of the Vanguard issue. I'll catch up with you two soon." Before Erend and Deo could object, Aloy had already taken off, without a trace of any sort.

Deo looked at Erend with a concerned expression. "So, do you have a second sight, sir?" Erend wasn't up for answering that question. Nonetheless, he reached into the pocket of his battlecoat. Erend placed his focus onto the ear with his piercing. He pressed it, turning it on. "It was a wedding gift," Erend said softly. He highlighted Eliz's tracks before the duo began to follow.


	7. Ancient Burial

**Author's Note: I haven't typed up a fanfiction in years. I've been too busy with college, considering I'm steps away from my Bachelor's and soon on to my Master's (GRE in June, Baby). I'm a little rough on the writing, so apologies if it's rather, er, too fast-paced.**

 **Eliz is actually pronounced like "Ei-leez," like similarly to Eileen. Also, if she had a voice actress, it would be Ashley Johnson (Ellie from The Last of Us).**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

* * *

Erend followed the tracks through shallow rivers, Watcher-infested forest, all the way to the desert land that was Shadow Carja territory. Deo was very curious as to how the "Second Sight" worked. He was also curious as to how the whole family was able to have one. "So, Sir, did this second sight make you very good at tracking?" Erend jolted from the first sentence said in awhile. He was too focused on finding his daughter to even utter a word.

"Nah. Aloy taught me a bit over the years."

"She's really good at it."

"She has to be. If she wasn't we'd probably be destroyed right now."

That hit Deo right in the gut. Aloy knew of all the things that were happening before. He didn't remember seeing the chaos that HADES shat onto the world. At that time, he just cried and sucked his mother's tits. Erend scratched his behind. Then he scratched his head. He found a small bowl, containing ink, that was spilled into the sand. "Why does she have Salvebrush?" he asked to himself, sniffing the ink to confirm that it was the herb. "Was she wounded?"

"Eliz was wounded?" Deo certainly cared about the woman enough to inspect the object.

"I don't know. The oil is still good though. I could probably use it."

Deo shrugged. He pulled out a small glass container, before slipping the fluid inside. After closing it, he handed the oils to Erend. "Captain," he said softly, "Do you think that maybe this is coincidental with all the tattoos that she was getting on her arm?"

 _Now that he mentions it…_

Erend began to feel anxiety press onto his body. He grabbed his hammer from next to the spilled ink. "I just rehighlighted her track," he shouted. "Let's go."

* * *

"Everyone alright?"

"Ma'am, we have successfully transported the remaining civilians to Daytower."

That pleased Aloy. Usually, she would have sent Erend to do the job, but something was eating at her. She needed to confront Avad. She made her way up the curved steps, into the small palace, before seeing the longtime friend. "Aloy, how's your family?" Avad said softly, approaching the woman and bowing. Aloy hated bowing. She gestured her hands to not do so before he cleared his throat. "Look, Avad, I need to ask you something."

"Anything."

Aloy paused for a couple of seconds before coming up with the right words.

"Do you know why exactly the Shadow Carja are back? Do you know their exact motives?"

Avad shrugged and shook his head. Aloy didn't feel like he really had any knowledge, and she knew him well enough to believe him. Her next step would be Itamen, who was now older and huskier.

"I really don't know. However, I feel that the dark sun as possessed my nephew," Itamen noted. He placed his hand on Aloy's shoulder. "Cy hasn't been himself. He's more distant. The boy's smart, but you know how shy he is. I'm just saying, this kind of isolation from us is very frightening to me."

Aloy began to suspect something out of Cy. She wasn't sure if he was just going through the losses of seeing his people slaughtered, or maybe…

The Nora approached the young boy, who rested just outside the small palace. Aloy sat next to him. It was almost like looking right into Avad, considering he looked just like his Sun-King father.

"Your Uncle worries for you," Aloy began.

Cy just grunted. He continued to look down.

"Do you mind if I answer some questions?"

Cy didn't answer. He continued to look down.

Aloy quickly grew frustrated with the kid. He didn't speak anything, didn't answer anything. The angst was enough to allow her to walk away from the kid. She didn't have time for teenage angst. She needed to meet her family.

Aloy stormed back into the palace. She caught Avad's attention. "May I speak to you privately?" she insisted. Avad would drop everything to listen to The Annointed. He did just that… literally. He dropped all the scrolls that he was holding, before meeting her outside.

Eliz struggled through the sand. "I would really love to have those goggles that the woman had," the Huntress said, in a rather harsh tone. The Strider was also struggling with the harsh winds. Luckily, considering it was a machine, it was able to move effectively. That suited Eliz just fine. "West, Strider!" She huffed again. As they passed the sand ruins, Eliz came across a small area that was surrounded by mountains. The grass was as green as Meridian. At the end, between a few rocky areas that led to the mountaintops, was a small hut. "Sylens!" She said softly to herself, as she and her strider slowly approached. She jumped off the machine before approaching the front door. She paused before knocking. "Sylens?" she called, after a few first-knocks, and after a few minutes of no answer, she knocked again. "Sylens?" She asked again, before opening the door.

* * *

Erend and Deo finally made their way past the ruins, albeit interrupted by some machines who were hungry for slaughter. "May I tell you something, Captain?" the young man said softly.

"If it's about marrying my daughter you can forget it."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not going to make it to even asking her out, Sir."

Erend turned to the young man and scoffed. "You're damn right."

"No, I'm serious. I've had… something for awhile."

The Captain looked at the young man, rather confused. "Have you told anyone?"

"Only you, in exception to the doctors."

A lump went through Erend's throat. He respected Deo, almost as if the spy was a son of his own. He immediately knew why Deo was usually reserved- why he was too serious and less joke. "I'm sorry, Kid," he said softly.

"Don't blame yourself."

The two men made their way towards the small hut. Outside, they saw Eliz, sobbing. Erend was relieved to find his daughter. Deo was even more relieved by the fact that she was _alive._

Aloy warned Avad to keep a close eye on his son. She had a gut feeling that maybe the kid had something to do with the attack. Nonetheless, by the time they cleared Meridian and took the prisoners back, it still was not safe to go back. At the same time, with Eliz on the run, Aloy feared that Daytower may have been the next victim to the slaughter and capture of hundreds of Carja citizens.

Aloy made her way through to the end of the sand ruins, turning on her focus. She spotted Erend and Deo's tracks, in addition to Eliz's. She highlighted Eliz's nonetheless. The Annointed urged her Strider to continue forward, hoping that there was some gold at the end of the rainbow.

When Aloy made her way to a small hut, she saw her family. She leapt off the horse, and approached her crying daughter. Erend gave Aloy a look of tiredness, but also a hint of mourning. It occurred to her what happened.

Aloy stormed through the door, to see an old man, lying dormant, in his bed. One thing Aloy was good at was not crying. However, the lump in her throat was ready to jump down to her stomach, like a boulder destroying a water conveyor. Aloy approached the deceased human, before placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said, shakily, over and over again. Aloy sighed to prevent the tears from streaming down her face. The Annointed made her way out of the hut, meeting her family. Erend spoke up.

"Do you know how?"

Aloy took a deep breath, letting the grief escape her lips. She began, in a shaky tone,

"Most likely natural causes. He died peacefully, at least."

"Well, he was old."

"I just wish he told us."

"He probably didn't know."

"Right." Aloy sighed again.

"He kept HADES here. He made this place to record his knowledge. Now, he's gone, and someone else will have to contain HADES."

Erend and Deo both gave a look to each other. Eliz was still sobbing, but quietly. She felt exhausted. Her back and lungs hurt.

"I'll bury him. Erend, please get HADES. He's in the lantern next to the bed."

* * *

As Aloy dug from dirt clumps to dirt clumps, she was interrupted by Erend. He offered to allow her to rest. The Annointed continued digging, much to his disappointment. He offered Aloy a mug of water, straight from the river near. As he sat next to the grave, Erend just wanted to hold Aloy, and to remind her that it'll be okay. He knew she was hurting. He knew she didn't want to show it. "Sometimes, you have to let these things out. Holding it in is like making a bomb. It'll go off sooner or later."

Aloy kept digging.

"If you just allow me to dig, he's still going to have a proper burial."

Aloy looked up at her husband. She sighed. She placed the shovel down against the dirt that remained untouched. Aloy then climbed out of the grave, and next to Erend. The woman leaned against her husband's shoulders. "He was old," she started. "He lived a life for knowledge. I just didn't expect him to leave so soon."

"We all do."

"Right." Aloy took the mug from Erend.

"At least he warned us about a 'bigger danger' hitting us. He was just a bit too late."

"Well, it would've been better if these two scenarios switched." Aloy wrapped her arm around Erend's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her waist.

* * *

Eliz looked down at the man as he peacefully slept in his eternal bed. She didn't expect him to be gone. She wanted to learn so much. She wanted to _know_. What _did_ she want to know? As questions began to spun in her head, Eliz jerked after seeing the dirt splash over his body. Another splash of dirt hit again. Suddenly, Eliz felt Erend's hand touch her shoulder. Next, she felt the bamboo slither onto her palm. Eliz continued to add the bit of dirt onto him, before Deo took the shovel. Aloy decided to finish the burial.

With HADES strapped to Aloy's hip, the four made their way back to meet the Vanguard. Eliz just wanted to be alone. The world was quickly changing. She felt her blood thickening, as the withdrawal came back again. _When will this nightmare stop?_ Eliz's attention was straight to the lantern. She couldn't imagine the kind of _magic_ that was inside. The girl's curiosity kept eating inside. With the addition withdrawal, the huntress experienced a wave of emotions that wouldn't stop pounding from one end to the other. Her vision remained blurred from her tears. The overwhelming situation prompted Eliz to lean forward, arms wrapped around the strider, as she attempted to let the world readjust with the bumps of the machine's walk.

Despite it still being in the middle of the night, Aloy never stopped overriding to make themselves less distracting. The machine count was very heavy at that time around. It wasn't right. The machines didn't rapidly increase as they did after the slaughter of Meridian. Granted, about up to thirteen years before, when the defeat of HADES was still fresh, the machines began to die off. It was glorious that the casualties to the human race was less prominent. The downside was that the economy began to suffer, as shards were currency. The times were hard throughout that time. People forgot that they were able to live. However, people also forgot that with an increase of machines, the casualty bar would rise.

Aloy used her cauldrons as an opportunity to keep the amount of machines around. It ate at her that one day, the machines would end up turning back on the people. She believed that she was contributing to more people getting killed. On the other hand, she also believed the situation was, as it really was, a double-edged sword. With that in mind, Aloy volunteered to oversee and also work on improving the morale and skill of the people. Her job, or rather, her purpose, was to train people, and make them capable of survival.

Granted, Aloy's work allowed the human casualty to drop. She felt better knowing more people had a better chance at survival, but also, the machines also had a better chance to reproduce. It felt like a win-win, but she knew that there still would be those who would end up killed, whether it were the _lack of perfection_ , or perhaps a slip in concentration.

Eliz's addiction was becoming _her_ slip in concentration.

Eliz would drink to a point it would start her day. However, she wasn't too crazy to where she would end up lying face-down by the river. That was the job of the Salvebrush. In just two to three days, Eliz brutally rampaged through some Shadow Carja soldiers, even men who raped her as she was passed out. In just two to three days, Eliz took off on her own, and discovered a drug that already had devastating consequences. She didn't see that. She saw it as an escape. She saw it as an _escaping art form._


End file.
